Warriors: The Rise of a Hero: Skyfire
by Bubo
Summary: Young Grasskit lives a normal life until his life is changed forever.... Now is he is a part of SkyPack, a pack of brave, confident dogs. But times are not peaceful: BloodClan and ShadowClan had teamed up. And they will conquer the whole valley.
1. Prologue: Where's Patches?

**Hi everybody. Well, I've been interested in Warriors lately, and I decided to write a fanfic.**

**Toby isn't really the main character, but he'll have a pretty big role in the storyline, though. ****Patches, too.**

**So, enjoy.**

_***  
_

_Thunder rolled in the sky, lightning_ flashed. Rain pelted down to the ground.

"Patches?" somebody screamed desperately, "Patches! Where are you?"  
Toby was in his owners' garden, standing on top of the birdbath, looking out to the wild territory beyond.  
His tail was tucked between his legs in fear, and his tongue hung from his mouth as he panted rapidly.  
His yellow fur was all damp, his eyes were moving about, and Toby was shaking violently, partly because of cold, and of fear.  
Toby knew that the young ginger cat was always trying to escape from the house. But, why?  
He had heard about the clans and packs that lived in the valley that the yellow Labrador resided in. There was ThunderClan, RiverClan, and the other clans. SkyPack and RockPack were a few packs that lived here.

The young dog finally stopped barking; he knew it was useless. Besides, the other cats and dogs wouldn't like it.  
"Am I crazy enough to go to the wild? By myself?" Toby asked himself.  
He stared at the Beyond, as the cats and dogs here called it; unlike the easy, luxurious life of a pet; life as somebody in a clan or pack was dangerous.  
It was easy to get killed by mountain lions, farm dogs, or even other clans or packs. But all the animals feared the Twolegs the most; they were destroying their habitat.  
"Well.....for Patches! What could happen to her?" the dog stated. He then proceeded to dig a tunnel under the fence when he heard his owners call him back inside.  
Now Toby was confused; should he go out, into the wild, to save his best friend, Patches, or should he go back to his owners?  
Enough thinking, Toby said to himself in his mind, Patches is out there, somewhere.  
His owners made puckering sounds and called out his name.  
But instead of trotting back to his Twoleg masters, Toby ignored them.  
He jumped over the fence with all his might, and went into the Beyond.

"Patches? Where are you?"  
Toby sniffed the air for any scent, but there was nothing but the aroma after rain.  
He was now in the middle of a small meadow; to his left was a abandoned quarry, and there was an odd glowing pond ahead of him. Trees grew next to it.  
"Huh? What's that?" Toby said. He padded closer to the pool, and soon, the dog reached it.  
Toby felt thirsty; so he approached the pond and lapped the water. It was better tasting than the disgusting Twoleg water.  
Suddenly, the world spiraled, and soon, the meadow around him turned into a snowy forest. The pool wasn't in front of Toby anymore.  
"W-w-what? What the?" the dog gasped in shock. He studied the area, and ran around the thickets and cliffs.

"Welcome to your ancestors' home, little one," said a voice.  
Toby nearly yelped when he saw a huge, magnificent wolf walk out from behind a snow-capped cliff.  
Soon, other wolves and dogs appeared behind her.  
"I am Icehowl," the beautiful creature woofed in a soft voice, "And these are my descendants. They are your ancestors."  
"But I'm a housedog! How can be possibly related to them?" Toby protested.  
Icehowl stepped down from the cliff and walked over to him.  
"Ah, all of them, young one, are you ancestors. They are free creatures; but the Twolegs took it all away millions of suns later. You must leave them."  
Toby was surprised. His Twolegs had treated him well; they didn't do anything bad to him, or something.  
"I know you are protesting against that; but they had took the dogs and spoiled them, brainwashed them. The same thing with cats, too. They were once free and strong, but the Twolegs destroyed them. Just like us. Just like you."  
After those words, the world spiraled again, and Toby was now back at the pool.  
He noticed that it was dawn.  
"I slept? And that....dream wasn't very long!" the dog woofed. Time passed to so fast! But no time for that now; he had to go find Patches.

His first stop was the farm, which was not far from the pond.  
Sheep grazed in a field inside a large corral; they bleated and dropped scat all over the place. Toby nearly retched when he smelled the droppings.  
Were the sheep once free, too? Did they live high in the mountains, with mighty horns and strong legs? Maybe, and now here they were...nothing but dumb, weak animals. It was all the Twolegs' fault. But he thought about his owners.  
The gate was open, and Toby hesitated. There were some particularly unfriendly dogs around here; the animals were very territorial. But he noticed there was none of those hairy mutts, so he could pass through here safely.  
Cautiously, Toby entered the corral and sniffed the air consecutively...good. No crazy housedogs.

But the Labrador had a feeling that one could come out of nowhere and attack him.

"For Patches...for Patches...."  
And so Toby was now in the middle of the field, and sheep surrounded him, but paid no attention.  
He was extremely worried about Patches; she could of been killed by wild animals. Or worse....kidnapped by Twolegs; they would put her in a large truck with many cages inside....and drive her to the kennel.  
The young dog was too deep in thought when he bumped into a large sheep, causing it to panic. Soon, a chain reaction started!  
Stupid sheep! Toby screamed in his head. Now I'm spotted!  
The stench of housedog filled the canine's nose, and barking and howling exploded in his floppy ears.  
"Intruder! Intruder!" an immense dog roared. The Collie's ears flopped about, and an ugly snarl was on his face.  
Adrenaline shot through Toby's body, and he broke into a sprint. But the corral door was closed....  
"Get out! Leave! Before I kill you like I had to every single stray that has passed through my master's territory!" the collie barked, and he was close to Toby.  
The young dog was horrified; he thought of cats getting mauled by him, dogs beaten into submission.  
Now Toby ran even faster, but then he felt a searing pain in his hindquarters. It was so agonizing that the poor dog howled in pain.  
He turned, and the collie lunged at the young dog; Toby barked and struggled to make this creature submit to him.  
"Get out! GET OUT!" the housedog woofed. He put his head over Toby's, to try and dominate; but the Labrador was determined to save Patches.  
And so, with one magnificent lunge, he knocked the collie off and ran away as fast as he could.

He had experienced it. He had experienced freedom.


	2. Chapter 1: The Gathering

**Toby's gonna appear soon, okay? Probably Chapter 4 or 5.**

***

Firepelt was scouting the cliffs, keeping watch for any trespassers. That was his job.  
The territory of EarthClan was a huge wall of rock stretching for many miles.  
The top was flat and many cattails grew near the river that flowed across the cliff, eventually forming a waterfall. The river continued, finally dumping into the large lake.  
The flame-colored tabby tom eyed the horizon. He sniffed for anything foreign.  
"Good," he sighed, "no cats. No dogs...."  
Firepelt had a burning hatred for dogs. They were responsible for his mate and kit's death. He remembered that horrific day....

Thrushwing and Firepelt were playing with their kit, Northkit, in the Sheep-hills....well, before the sheep arrived.  
One day, when the Twolegs arrived, Thrushwing watched their kit pretending to battle a ShadowClan warrior. The "enemy" was Firepelt.  
Unbeknownst to them, a pack of dogs and a large herd of sheep were coming up the hill...  
The Twolegs then sent the animals to drive out or exterminate any cats that were in the hills.  
Thrushwing smelled the rank smell of the dogs, and told Firepelt to run.

And then, they attacked.

Dogs lunged at Thrushwing, and Northkit was surrounded by the creatures.  
Firepelt yowled and fought the dogs with all his might. Blood spilled, and fur was everywhere.  
But then a dog butted the deputy to the ground and kept him under his grip.  
And Firepelt heard the screams and yowls of pain as the animals killed his beloved kin.  
Soon, they left, and the tabby found his two family members dead.  
The two poor cats were covered in blood, their ears and tails were cut off, and teeth and claw were bared.

Firepelt's blue eyes started to brim with tears, but he blinked them back.  
Just then, he sniffed a foreign scent; ShadowClan!  
He saw a party of black and white cats running toward a slope.  
Quickly, the deputy ran to a group of some warriors; his fur was bristling, and his tail was straight up.  
"ShadowClan! They have been spotted near the cliffs! Alert the cats, NOW!"  
And so, in the blink of an eye, the warrior cats immediately ran down to the meadow, where the ShadowClan cats were.  
Darkstar, a pure black cat, was about to mark his newest territory when Firepelt lunged at him.  
"Stop! Leave, or we shall make YOU leave!" he yowled.  
Hawkpaw, an apprentice, hissed in a thin, raspy voice, "Do you really think so? You and your cowardly warriors can NEVER stop us from marking OUR territory. So there!"  
One of the EarthClan warriors was about to pounce on the sniveling little apprentice, but Firepelt brushed his tail on the warrior's flank.  
"Hawkpaw's right!," Darkstar snarled, "You have nothing but poorly disciplined warriors and silly little kittypets. We, on the other hand, are the opposite."

Firepelt growled, and then pounced onto the ShadowClan leader.

The EarthClan warriors hissed and attacked the opposing enemy.  
Cats slashed and bit each other, as blood and fur flew through the air.  
Darkstar wrestled Firepelt onto the ground and hissed,  
"Give us your territory, or I shall KILL your leader!"  
Now the EarthClan deputy was becoming angry and tried to think of a reply.

"No, no! Never....you...you...STUPID DOG!"

Darkstar stopped snarling at Firepelt, and, after a few frightening seconds, the ShadowClan yowled on the top of his lungs and sank his teeth into the flame-colored tabby's ribs.  
Oh, no. Firepelt thought fearfully. Air-death. The deputy struggled to breath, but Darkstar held him extremely tight.  
His vision was about to go black when he heard Leafstar's voice from the top of the cliff.  
"Stop! Stop this madness at once!"  
The sandy-colored tabby leaped down from the bluff and walked over to the two fighting warriors. Darkstar ripped his claws out from Firepelt's lungs.  
"What in the name of StarClan is going on?" Leafstar growled. He then glared at the ShadowClan warriors, "And what are YOU doing here? Tell us!"  
Leafstar whipped his tail angrily as Darkstar hissed, "We need more territory! Me and my clan were suffering with scarce prey, while YOU get to enjoy your little luxuries!"  
But the EarthClan leader only snarled.  
"Hah! You needing MORE territory! I'll have you know that you and your clan has territory that stretches all to the ROCKPACK HILLS! And that is millions of fox lengths across! Many creatures are suffering under your tyranny!"  
Suddenly, Leafstar yowled, and his warriors hissed and snapped at Darkstar, and, oddly enough, he ran away.  
"Coward," the EarthClan leader grinned, "A bit conceited, if you ask me."  
His warriors yowled in agreement.

"The Gathering is at moonrise! We must get ready!" Leafstar announced while standing on top of a large slope of rock that protruded from the cliff.  
"And," the leader continued, "there is a new location. It take place in a small grove of trees, near the lake."  
A young tabby tom with tan fur jumped up and down in excitement. He was going to meet the legendary Aquastar, of RiverClan; and her brave warriors, too.  
But Grasskit felt a twinge of nervousness when he thought of ShadowClan.  
Suddenly, Birdkit, his sister, jumped out from a bush of cattails.  
"Gotcha!" the white and tan kit meowed mischievously.  
"You scared me, Birdkit!" Grasskit hissed.  
"Oh, come on, Grasskit. I was only trying to play with you," the young tabby shot back.  
The two siblings stopped arguing when their best friend, Streakpaw, walked over to them. Her tail was high up, and she all jittery.  
Streakpaw was a beautiful tabby with a glistening cream coat, and soft white stripes. She had an odd streak on her forehead, too.  
"By StarClan," Grasskit mewed, "happy as a dog."  
"Hi, Grasskit and Birdkit! Have you heard; the Gathering is today! My first time as an apprentice!" she said.  
"Yeah, and me and brother can't wait to become apprentices, too. One day, I'll be know as Birdpaw!" Birdkit twittered cheerfully. She sounded like a songbird.  
"And Grasspaw," Grasskit added.  
The three friends then spent the rest of the morning pretending to be ThunderClan warriors fighting ShadowClan. Streakfur was Firestar, and Grasskit was Graystripe.  
Firestar had lived many moons ago; he was originally known as Rusty, but then he changed his kittypet ways and eventually became the leader of ThunderClan.  
His tales of how he came to be still amazed the young kits of all clans.  
"ShadowClan warrior to the left of you, Rowanclaw!" Grasskit yowled to Birdkit.  
The young tabby jumped onto Streakpaw and mock-bit her.  
"You evil wrench! How dare you attack me; I am stronger than you think!" the creamy she-cat giggled.  
And so the two cats rolled around on the rock, making mock-hisses and growls.

Night came, and EarthClan was leaving for the Gathering.  
"YES! It's finally here! We're going to the GATHERING!" Streakpaw yowled.  
"Now, now, Streakpaw, enough excitement for a while. You're putting too much stess on yourself," meowed Pantherheart, her mentor.  
This was the first time Grasskit and his sister went to a Gathering. What was it, anyway?  
"Hey, Streakpaw, do you know what a Gathering is in the first place?" he asked.  
"Well...um...I guess it has something to do with politics? Or something," the young apprentice answered.  
Politics? That was new word for Grasskit; it sounded serious and complicated.

The last light of the sun peeked from the mountains, and finally shrank. Now the moon was almost high in the sky.  
"Is everybody ready?" Leafstar asked.  
All of the clan cats yowled in agreement.  
And so the cats left their camp, and went down a slope, and into their hunting grounds.  
They walked across the banks of the river, and followed it into RiverClan territory.  
A small grove of trees were next to the lake, and animals were talking to each other in there.  
Now Grasskit smelled the stench of cat and dog; all of the packs and clans were there!

"EarthClan's here? But where's Firepelt?" asked a WindClan cat.  
"Watching the camp," Leafstar answered.  
After a few minutes, the Gathering finally began.  
Grasskit was amazed; he saw Siamese cats, gingers, one large German Shepard, and a tiny terrier.  
"Now," said a husky named Stonebark, "these days are hard times. Twolegs have been invading our territories. Am I correct?"  
All the creatures yowled and howled in agreement.  
"Ever since our previous habitat was destroyed, I have a feeling that we might have to move again. There was a farm that our WindClan patrols spotted, and soon, they were chased away by a housedog. A sign that the Twolegs are slowly approaching the quarry, where ThunderClan lives. And they even managed to take over the lake, too! Halfbridges and water-monsters are here and there! Now and then, monsters always sped right through the Thunderpath! And we thought our troubles would stop here. When we arrived into the valley, there were NO Twolegs living here at all. Now they are rising in steady numbers; cutting down trees and lives! And their kits are always harassing us!" Skystar yowled in outrage.  
"I agree with you, Skystar; we must hope this place will not turn into a place with thousands of Twoleg nests," said Toadtail, a RiverClan elder.  
They had remembered that horrible day; their once lush and beautiful home was now nothing but Twoleg territory. Thousands of nests were everywhere, and many Thunderpaths snaked through the place. Monsters were many.  
"Only time can tell," Leafstar meowed, "What could be the valley's fate? We may never know."  
Most of the cats and dogs nodded in agreement, that is, except Darkstar and his clan.  
"Don't you understand, Leafstar? Of course this place will become Twoleg territory! 'Only time can tell' is always used just to give false hope to the clans and packs!"  
The EarthClan growled slightly and hissed, "Then why are even here, then? You can leave this place and cower all your want!"  
"Hah! Leave? I think the other clans and packs must leave! We will stay here!" Darkstar yowled. His claws were unsheathed.  
"I don't think so! That is only a part of your plan to take over the va--"  
"ENOUGH!" Stonebark howled, "We shall debate peacefully without any blood spilling on the ground. You are clan leaders, mature and responsible, not a bickering bunch of kits! Insults will NOT be tolerated."  
Grasskit's worry about ShadowClan were becoming higher. These cats were up to something....  
"Now we shall talk about territory boundaries. They are the real reason why the clans and packs have been in much conflict lately."  
Cats and dogs nodded in agreement.  
"ShadowClan's been taking our territory lately," said a RockPack member, who was a Bernese Mountain dog, "...they've been marking our trees and grass! Even worse; housedogs have been trying to drive us out!"  
"True," said Aquastar, "they have been scent-marking our trees!"  
Darkstar growled at her and hissed, "That is because food in our area is scarce! The only thing that we can eat are dead rabbits that smell like the monsters!"  
But then a proud old ginger tom yowled, "Liar! You only want pride and power! And I heard that you were forming an alliance with BloodClan!"  
All of the packs and clans gasped and widened their eyes in surprise. They glared at Darkstar.  
"Look at the other crimes you committed!" the ginger cat hissed, "Kidnapping innocent kits and pups. Making them warriors and soldiers at a very early age; cruelty, I say!"  
Now the queens and nursers growled at Darkstar, their eyes red with pure hatred.  
"That is it! Clans and packs have been treating us with disrespect! Can you not understand how horribly we have suffered, while the other packs and clans run around, accusing us of false crimes! Stuffing themselves up while we battle starvation! All of you are unsympathetic......STARCLAN WILL PUNISH YOU!"  
Darkstar finished his rant and ran away from the grove of trees. His clanmates followed.  
Stonebark sighed, and said, "I am afraid this Gathering is over. Thank you for at least trying to debate peacefully."  
And so all the packs and clans left the grove and went back to their territories.  
"Well," Streakpaw said to her friends, "that was pleasant."


End file.
